Antiquity

Archaeologists from the Greek city of Amphipolis have found an ancient tomb that dates from the late reign of Alexander the Great or the early Hellenistic period, somewhere between 350 and 300 BC. The finding was revealed to today by Greece’s prime minister, underlining its great importance. In a statement, the prime… Read full history →

Two tombs from the 26th dynasty (685BC -525BC) are unearthed at the archaeological site of Al-Bahnasa, in Middle Egypt. The tombs contain mummified fish, coins and several mummies. The archaeological site of Minya was known in ancient Egypt as the town of Pr-Medjet. In the Graeco-Roman period the city was… Read full history →

The water that Romans drank in their city’s contained up to 100 times the lead compared to water drawn from local springs. This was caused by the metal pipes, the fistulae, used for the plumbing system in their cities. This is suggested by new research, published yesterday in the Proceedings of… Read full history →

Hundreds of boxes with exclusive archaeological excavation-materials in Syria have been looted. The findings were gathered and investigated by the University of Leiden (Netherlands). The extent of the damage is not yet clear. From 1986 on, Leiden’ archaeologists conducted excavations on the Syrian site of Tell Sabi Abyad. The finds… Read full history →

An ancient letter of an Egyptian soldier, Aurelius Polion, is finally deciphered. The letter was discovered in 1899, but was in very poor condition. Therefore, researchers have been waiting a long time to decipher it. Now this ancient writing has revealed its meaning, with impressive results. The tone of the letter… Read full history →

Archaeologists unearthed a statue of princess Iset, the daughter of Pharaoh Amenhotep III who in turn is the grandfather of Tutankhamun. It is the first picture that’s found of Iset and measures up to 1.70 meters high and is part of a 14-meter high alabaster statue of Amenhotep III that… Read full history →

At a certain point, anybody who studies the Antiquities will encounter them: war-elephants. They played a major role in ancient warfare, most notably in Hannibals’ crossing of the Alps (218 BC) as he attacked Rome (how many elephants actually survived this remarkable feat seems questionable). One documented ancient battle featured… Read full history →